Economy (ecnmy.org)

A project by Rethinking Economics

How often do you watch the news or read something online where someone’s talking about economics, and feel like they’re speaking a different language? Everyone knows this stuff is important, but it can be difficult to get your head around. With all that jargon, it’s easy to feel disconnected from what’s happening. Like it’s going on somewhere else.

Our mission is to create a world in which everybody has the confidence to talk about the economy in a way that has meaning to them, engaging with the issues that matter and affect their everyday life.

Contribute

Do you write about dogs, host a show about Asian cooking, produce punk rock music, make GoPro skiing videos? We want to hear from you!

Economy is not a place for academics. It’s a place for writers, filmmakers, musicians, poets, comedians, illustrators, animators, or anyone with a creative take on the lives we lead, the choices we make, the things we love, and everything in between.

Email your idea to contribute@ecnmy.org with: The central idea / Intro and concluding points of your piece / Format / A bit about yourself, any examples you have of previous work, and why you’d like to create this piece / When you’d be able to submit the piece by, and your rates (we’re a charity with limited funds, so ask that you keep this in mind in your proposal!) / What sources you’ll use in your piece.

When you’ve sent your pitch, you’ll receive some more info from us on the submission process. We aim to respond to all pitches within 3 – 5 days, and if it takes longer, we’ll let you know.

Help bust the jargon

Sick and tired of reading articles that are full of jargon designed to confuse people? Would you like to make economics more understandable? Why not help out Economy?!

Economy is a website that includes de-jargoned economics news, education resources, research data and campaigning tools. This project will be based around their ‘Learn’ section.

The Learn section of Economy is where someone who knows nothing about economics can be introduced to the subject. Divided into neat sections, visitors to the Learn section can discover how different parts of the economy affect them.

This easy to read section covers a range of often-used economics terms, that people might hear on the news everyday, but not understand. As simple as breaking down GDP through a cartoon, or writing a limerick about government bonds, the section is full of simple, yet perhaps silly, ways of understanding some key economics terms. It’s work in progress though, so why not join the team?

Why do it?

If elections are won and lost on issues that relate to the economy, and over 50% of the public do not feel confident about the words they’re hearing in the public sphere during election time, then there is a clear democratic deficit. Economy aims to reduce this.